Chapter 120: Super Double, Armed Tax Collection

Wan Wan Shihe described Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao's capture of Lu Song as a misunderstanding—a profoundly shameless maneuver—but a slight twist of phrasing made it seem entirely reasonable.

Is the outcome more important than the process? Actually, what matters most is the impact and feedback that follow the outcome.

"Wang Daoqun and others submitted a memorial regarding the dispute over the Songjiang shipyard." Zhang Zhang Juzheng pulled out another memorial; this court deliberation focused primarily on opening the seas, and to open the seas, ships were essential.

Matters concerning Ming shipbuilding had encountered some turbulence.

There were three main approaches: first, adhering to ancestral law by fully replicating ships from the Yongle era; second, fully replicating foreign vessels; third, combining Chinese and Western methods to build ships uniquely suited to the Ming.

The first approach was difficult to realize—the timber used for shipbuilding back then had been gathered from across the empire; restoring the glory of our ancestors in such a short time was truly challenging, and the shipbuilding techniques and ideas from 160 years ago were now outdated. The Ming had lost its commercial advantage in shipbuilding.

The second approach was precisely what Songjiang Prefecture was doing now—this was also why the Red Hair Barbarians had established shipyards in Lu Song; such ideal timber for shipbuilding simply did not exist in areas under their control.

It was only distributed in regions such as Muang, Siam, and Annam—locally sourcing materials was convenient, and the Ten-Thousand-Mile Sea Wall had teak, the hardest wood most suitable for shipbuilding; moreover, Muang's teak supply chain was extremely stable, with abundant and immediately available timber for prompt ship construction.

Hence the rapid replication of three-masted merchant ships—vessels were already launched; this was assembly, but also a restoration of Ming shipbuilding capacity; the Ming's southeast shipbuilding industry had not vanished—it was merely constrained by long-term maritime prohibitions, limited in scale; when the court acted, it naturally clenched its fist to accomplish great things.

The third approach was the opinion of the Maritime Affairs Hall: improvement, which had always been the Ming's standard practice.

The Ming navy had identified certain flaws in Western vessels and had already improved upon them—for instance, the Ming's rigid sails were far more practical than soft sails, capable of catching wind from all eight directions and achieving greater speed; Western ships lacked watertight compartment designs.

The watertight compartment design from the Yongle era still surpassed Western methods, and its simple structure made it easy to improve.

"So that's why it's called a Fujian ship—it's a ship of fortune." Zhu Zhu Yijun learned from Wang Daoqun's memorial that the term "Fujian ship" originated because the watertight compartments reduced the probability of sinking due to leaks from ninety percent to just twenty percent—a ship of fortune.

Inside each watertight compartment, there was a "water eye hole" at the bottom of the bulkhead; when water entered the bulkhead, water pressure would rapidly seal the hole, preventing further leakage and sinking.

Once a Western ship leaked, it was almost certain to sink; the Ming's watertight compartment concept divided the vessel into individual sealed compartments—when water seeped in, sealing one compartment prevented the entire ship from sinking, hence the name "Fujian ship."

This synthesis of ancient and modern, Chinese and Western ideas, immediately became the dominant voice, even reaching the ears of the court with their fervent advocacy.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and said: "The sea accepts hundreds of rivers because it is vast; take the strengths, compensate for the weaknesses, discard the dross, and preserve the essence."

The Ming had lost its commercial advantage in shipbuilding—it had lost 140 years, and the entire supply chain for ships, including timber, bamboo, iron, oil, hemp, rattan, and more; alone, there were over forty types of materials required. To build ocean-going ships, all these supplies must be fully restored.

The loss of commercial advantage did not mean the Ming's design concepts had become entirely obsolete.

Building a ship was by no means simple—for iron alone, there were numerous types: cut iron, steel iron, construction iron, new nails, yellow nails, nail blanks, iron wire, anvils, iron bars, oar fittings, scales, and more—all required official production.

The Songjiang shipyard recruited 3,260 shipwrights from Qingjiang, Suzhou, Two Huai'an, Yangzhou, and other prefectures, over 6,000 laborers, and 317 southern soldiers assigned to oversee material procurement, security, and legal compliance.

This was a massive systemic project; realizing it required an efficient court to coordinate—and clearly, the Ming under the Kaocheng Law could achieve it.

From its inception, the Songjiang shipyard had briefly been lost in confusion—money was spent, people arrived, materials arrived—but what kind of ships should they build? After Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao captured Lu Song, he sent all the documents from the Manila shipyard to Songjiang Prefecture; since the Red Hair Barbarians had crossed the ocean using these vessels, they would first replicate them—solve the problem of existence before addressing quality.

Clearly, both the Songjiang shipyard and the Maritime Affairs Academy cared deeply about solving the "quality" issue; the synthesis of ancient and modern, Chinese and Western methods, became the dominant approach.

This synthesis of ancient and modern, Chinese and Western methods was not first proposed by the young emperor—the Ming had long improved arquebuses and Folangji cannons using precisely this approach; this spirit of improvement had deep historical roots.

This matter truly required the court to make a decisive decision—otherwise, the debate would drag on endlessly, and no one would dare bear the blame for violating ancestral law. Once public opinion arose claiming "ancestral methods are inferior, foreign ships superior," would the shipyard even survive? Songjiang Shipyard knew what was best—but such political pressure was beyond the capacity of a single shipyard to resolve.

This was the concrete manifestation of Ming political ossification: when a new phenomenon emerged, the primary consideration was political impact.

This statement itself was Zhu Zhu Yijun's directive on foreign exchange—there was nothing to refute; if anyone wanted to curse, they should curse the old Taoist Emperor Jiajing—he was the first to improve the matchlock, to improve the Folangji cannon; this was ancestral law, and "Revere Heaven, Follow Ancestors" were the four great characters inscribed on the Qianqing Palace walls.

The court deliberation continued—the dispute remained over tax collection: the state was not wealthy, the people were poor, and the issue of returning land was also a major problem on the table.

"After returning the land, how will we collect the regular taxes? The former grain overseers, long corrupted by land consolidation, have been abolished; now, the Ming's regular taxes are essentially plundered—powerful families evade payment, so the burden falls on the common people, who have nothing; every summer and autumn tax season, there are riots—it's truly difficult." Wan Wan Shihe spoke of a widespread Ming phenomenon.

Hai Rui also sighed: "Indeed, this is common. When I served in Nanjing Prefecture, I observed this vicious cycle repeating itself."

"So when Assistant Minister Yin operated in the far south, tearing down doors and moving beds, the court knew he was oppressing the scholar-officials and powerful families—but what could they do? Would they not suppress bandits? Would they not pacify the Japanese pirates? They could only allow Assistant Minister Yin to act as he pleased." Ge Ge Shouli also sighed deeply.

Hai Rui, who had oppressed the scholar-officials, had been impeached and dismissed from office; Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao had already broken into homes and seized property—yet the court remained silent.

The Ming court's eminent ministers were those the emperor had personally vetted as worthy to be presented before the ancestral temple—none were rotten fish or empty sacks.

In fact, their discussion touched upon a widespread phenomenon across the entire Ming—and an untouchable topic: armed civilian resistance to taxation, or popular unrest.

The powerful families were exceptionally skilled in a Daoist method: manufacturing popular unrest.

That method was to shift the pressure of tax collection downward, forcing the court not to raise taxes—or even to stop collecting them entirely.

This was also the core conflict behind the Japanese pirate raids: the court wanted to collect taxes and establish customs posts like the Yuegang Tax Office; the powerful families immediately exploited the people, inciting unrest.

This was precisely the "extreme strategy" devised by Gu Gu Shaofang's scholar when facing the court's order to return land; the powerful families had long developed a path dependency: they drove the people to desperation, forcing them to become bandits or pirates, thereby preventing the court from collecting taxes.

The pessimistic Wang Wang Zhihao said helplessly: "The corruption of indulgence has become entrenched; it is too heavy to reverse."

"Difficult, difficult, difficult! The path to Shu is harder than ascending to the blue heavens!" Wang Wang Xijue, Director of the Hanlin Academy, sighed deeply.

A dead end.

Local officials, to fulfill the court's tax quotas, must tolerate the local powerful families; otherwise, if the powerful families refused to pay, officials had to descend into the countryside to seize assets; when they did, the people resisted taxation with every means at their disposal—not out of disrespect for the court, but because the burden was excessive: the powerful families had seized most productive assets yet refused to pay, forcing the common people to shoulder the tax burden.

The court's fish-scale registers were right there—how much land each county possessed, how much tax it should collect, all clearly recorded.

This terrifying vicious cycle manifested in taxation as follows: to collect taxes, local officials must tolerate the powerful families who controlled the overwhelming majority of productive assets; the more they tolerated, the more these assets concentrated in the hands of the powerful—even including the people themselves, bound to the land through personal dependency, a common occurrence.

The powerful families, wielding land and people as leverage, grew ever more arrogant, disregarding the court; local officials, in turn, grew ever more lenient toward them.

When the court forcibly ordered the powerful to return land, those who had previously collaborated with the court in exploiting the people would use their dependent populations to rebel—armed tax resistance, chaos everywhere.

Was this merely about taxation? Corvée labor, bandit suppression, bridge and road repair, school construction—all local activities and court decrees were trapped in this dilemma, with no solution.

This was precisely what Zhang Zhang Juzheng repeatedly emphasized: new policies and power flowed both top-down and bottom-up.

"Continue the court deliberation," Zhang Zhang Juzheng offered no concrete solution.

After the deliberation, Zhang Zhang Juzheng remained deeply troubled—he had thought of a solution, and it was effective.

But he did not know whether the emperor would agree; once implemented, the criticism would not fall only on Zhang Zhang Juzheng—the young emperor would share the blame.

"Master, speak plainly," Zhu Zhu Yijun said, watching Zhang Zhang Juzheng's strained expression, even considering sending Chen Chen Shigong with his third-rank "One Shot" to open Zhang Zhang Juzheng's eyes—speak out, don't hesitate.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng pulled out a memorial, handed it to Zhang Hong, and bowed: "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to submit."

"Master seems to have violated protocol," Zhu Zhu Yijun said, holding the memorial without opening it; Zhang Zhang Juzheng had bypassed the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial, delivering the memorial directly to the young emperor—indicating this matter was of grave importance.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed: "Extraordinary achievements require extraordinary measures."

Zhu Zhu Yijun calmly read through Zhang Zhang Juzheng's memorial, closed it peacefully, returned it, and said: "Master, this blame you cannot bear—I will bear it. I am still young, my actions lack restraint; if the uproar grows too fierce, I will bow my head, admit fault, write a self-censure record, read it before the ancestral temple, and everyone will pretend nothing happened."

"Your Majesty, how can there be fault?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng held the memorial tightly: "For a minister to let his sovereign bear an evil reputation is the greatest disloyalty."

Zhu Zhu Yijun shook his head: "Master, why not use every available person and thing to restore the Ming? Is not the self-censure edict precisely for such occasions? And who knows—whether it is 'the whole world blames me' or 'I blame the whole world'? Besides, whether I even read this self-censure record remains to be seen."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked troubled: "Your Majesty…"

"Master," Zhu Zhu Yijun said gently.

Zhu Zhu Yijun continued: "You cannot submit this memorial. If you do, you confirm Fu Fu Yingzhen's accusations—you confirm the charge of usurping imperial authority. Ge Ge Shouli, Zhang Zhang Siwei, Wan Wan Shihe, Fu Fu Yingzhen—all await this day, waiting for you to confirm your usurpation of imperial power; your disciples will abandon you, then use my banner to overthrow you, trample you into the mud."

"Your disciples, your new policies—all will vanish with your departure; the man dies, the policy dies."

"Will you let your lifelong aspirations be washed away?"

Zhang Zhang Juzheng realized he could no longer treat the emperor as a child; Gao Luo became chancellor at twelve; Grandmaster Yue Yun fought on the battlefield at twelve; the emperor himself had said: "Youth bears bold spirit; its time of glory will come."

"I will issue the edict," Zhu Zhu Yijun said, watching Zhang Zhang Juzheng remain silent, assuming he had agreed and was ready to decide.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng still refused: "Let me submit the memorial—it is my duty to honor the late emperor and serve Your Majesty faithfully. Your Majesty is a sage, your achievements flawless, your wisdom untarnished."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng still insisted on his political principle: the sovereign alone holds authority over rewards and punishments, rites and warfare; he refused to let the emperor bear this stain; the blame must fall on him—the emperor's prestige must not suffer during his tenure as chancellor.

This was what a loyal minister should do.

Zhu Zhu Yijun and Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not always align on every issue; there were minor disagreements, but no fundamental ideological conflict; as long as their ultimate goal was shared, disagreements could be set aside.

Zhu Zhu Yijun found he could not refute him, so he sighed: "Fine."

"Then let us discuss your method in detail—you're still not ruthless enough. Let me explain my idea." Zhu Zhu Yijun sat upright; he had thought of a method during his ancestral temple report.

Coincidentally! Zhu Zhu Yijun and Zhang Zhang Juzheng had arrived at the same idea.

Zhu Zhu Yijun carefully chose his words: "Why does Assistant Minister Yin in the southern court crush the scholar-officials and powerful families so thoroughly that they dare not even breathe? They are forced to surrender their homes because they dare not—dare not shift Yin's oppression downward to incite popular unrest, for Yin will truly kill them."

"Assistant Minister Yin truly can kill them."

"Why, when Song Yangshan, Zhang Jin, Yu Yu Dayou, Chen Lin, Wang Daoqun, Zhang Cheng, and others managed the Songjiang Maritime Customs and land-return affairs, were so many cases piled against them—even Xu Pan had a murder charge and was exiled to Jizhen? But after Luo Luo Bingliang arrived, he seized the Gu family, executed one to warn a hundred—and immediately, the resistance ceased? Because Luo Luo Bingliang truly would raze families to the ground."

"Because Luo Luo Bingliang truly could raze families."

"Is Assistant Minister Yin evil? Is Luo Luo Bingliang a hound? Isn't suppressing pirates and seizing property precisely within their duties?"

"The root of today's indulgence is that local officials lack the power to confront the powerful; the reason they cannot prevail is simple: they have no knife. What we must do is hand this knife to local officials."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed: "Exactly so."

This was precisely the content of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's memorial: how to hand the knife to local officials so they could fight.

Zhu Zhu Yijun continued: "We must first ensure this knife does not harm the court's foundations; we must draw boundaries and establish rules. Master yourself said: 'The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is secure.' So how do we proceed? We cannot grant local officials excessive authority, lest we invite the threat of regional warlords—but we must empower them to confront the powerful; cleverness alone cannot replace the power of weapons."

"This knife must be handed out."

"Your Majesty is wise," Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed again.

Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled: "Master insists on Gao Zhu Qiyu's death? I sent Gao Zhu Qiyu to Suzhou to investigate the encroachment of Ma Ma Yilong's reclaimed land; he found himself powerless, so he sought Luo Luo Bingliang's help—borrowing his authority to accomplish the task."

"Borrowing authority can resolve the terrifying situation where local finances are autonomous and the court's authority is entirely lost."

"Your method and mine are the same: establish a Tax Inspection Office within the Northern Capital Security Bureau; dispatch Northern Capital Security Bureau's Regional Commanders to each province and circuit; assign Assistant Commanders to each prefecture; send Crimson Cavalry to each county—solely to inspect taxes."

"But Master, the Northern Capital Security Bureau is a judicial department with only six hundred men—there aren't enough."

Zhu Zhu Yijun prevented Zhang Zhang Juzheng from submitting the memorial because this plan involved deploying a department Zhang Zhang Juzheng could not touch: the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

To protect Zhang Zhang Juzheng's reputation, the young emperor had his own clever trick: "Tax inspection concerns the state's finances—how can we entrust it entirely to the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Within days, this office and system would rot away."

"Contradictions exist among all things; balance and harmony also exist among all things."

"I propose establishing a dedicated Tax Inspection Bureau: select talented Ming Jinshi and juren proficient in arithmetic to serve as administrative officers; Crimson Cavalry will specialize in tax inspection; dispatch eunuch supervisors from the Imperial Household to each province and circuit."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhang Juzheng's expression finally shifted slightly; if this Tax Inspection Bureau were established, it would provoke fierce condemnation from scholar-officials and moral purists—for gentlemen avoided talk of profit. Zhang Zhang Juzheng speaking of profit was already problematic, but establishing a dedicated Tax Inspection Bureau? Once this public opinion emerged, could Zhang Zhang Juzheng withstand it?

"It should be so," Zhang Zhang Juzheng's memorial had merely suggested dispatching Crimson Cavalry to monitor—only a temporary measure; if anyone resisted, execute one to warn a hundred, seize one household, and restore the court's authority.

But the emperor doubled down: not only would Crimson Cavalry be sent, but also Ministry of Revenue officials and eunuch supervisors.

The Ming had employed such balancing mechanisms only in military campaigns; clearly, the emperor equated tax collection with warfare—there was no difference between "conquering" and "collecting."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng asked himself: he could still withstand this public opinion.

Zhu Zhu Yijun continued: "Once the system is settled, what about personnel? Personnel is a major problem—one Crimson Cavalry per county would drive them to death; they need support."

"There are people in the countryside."

"I propose issuing tax vouchers, requiring every household to declare their own land area and tax liability; if anyone dares to evade or conceal, let the Crimson Cavalry recruit martial heroes, wandering knights, and outlaws to recover the shortfall—give them thirty percent of the recovered amount as reward."

"These rogue elements can be used by the powerful to oppress the common people—why can't the court use them to oppress the powerful instead?"

The imperial privilege to target the wealthy would surely interest bandits scattered across the land.

In the young emperor's few words, Zhang Zhang Juzheng understood his intent: to arm tax collectors and fully mobilize the wandering bandits and outlaws, calling them heroes and knights-errant to forcibly extract taxes from the powerful households.

Zhu Zhu Yijun's method plagiarized the world's third-largest armed force—the American Revenue Service—along with the Ming's Eastern Depot and Inner Secretariat, and the Emperor Wanli Emperor's tax eunuchs.

During Emperor Wanli's thirty-year neglect, he cared deeply about only one thing: making money. Zhang Zhang Juzheng had taught Emperor Wanli so much, yet Emperor Wanli remembered only one thing: get money.

Emperor Wanli's mineral tax eunuchs were infamous, widely called "one part to the imperial treasury, nineteen parts to their private pockets."

Zhu Zhu Yijun's current plan, however, was carefully considered: the Tax Inspection Bureau would report directly to the emperor, yet involve civil officials, and the tax revenue would not go to the inner treasury but be split equally between state and inner treasury.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng stared, dumbfounded—the emperor didn't just double it, he tripled it! This method was utterly vicious!

He now understood why the emperor didn't want him to bear the blame—he couldn't bear it. Could he even carry such a curse?

Zhang Zhang Juzheng fell silent for a long while, then said with difficulty: "Your Majesty issues the edict to supervise? I shall not submit a memorial."

Look at this bright, cheerful young emperor—how many wicked schemes lie hidden in his heart!

Zhang Zhang Juzheng increasingly realized he was protecting the court officials, protecting the gentry and powerful elites of the realm!

Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled and continued: "Fine. But implementing a policy isn't instantaneous. Let's first trial it in the Southern Circuit under Luo Luo Bingliang. Start with the fourteen prefectures of the Southern Circuit—trial, then refine the laws based on experience. Meanwhile, Your Royal Uncle in the capital shall train eunuchs, Tiqi, and Ministry of Revenue tax clerks together in arithmetic to cultivate talent."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng blinked, finally understanding why the emperor had insisted on Zhao Meng as Zhao Tishuai instead of Luo Luo Bingliang—Luo Sijing was the emperor's daily sparring partner who made him scream in the palace, clearly favored by the throne, yet Luo Luo Bingliang was actually better suited for the role of Zhao Tishuai.

So this was the trap all along!

A hidden trail, stretching a thousand li; every sip and bite predetermined—the young emperor had been plotting this all along, inch by inch.

"Master?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked, puzzled: "Do you disagree?"

Zhang Zhang Juzheng snapped back to attention and bowed: "Your servant is guilty—I was distracted."

"Then let's proceed with the lecture." Zhu Zhu Yijun opened his textbook, ready to begin. Zhang Zhang Juzheng started explaining the Private Tutor's Commentary—last year they studied Mencius; this year they began the Doctrine of the Mean.

Taxing in currency inevitably triggers fierce social conflict—thus, super-doubling and armed tax collection become inevitable. The powerful households are all dripping with wealth, maintaining retainers and bandits far more numerous and better equipped than the Southern Yamen runners hired by local officials—many of whom are themselves owned by the powerful.

The court currently lacks funds to maintain so many men; it must actively mobilize the initiative of social groups for taxation.

The Tax Inspection Bureau handles only tax inspection—nothing else. Even a brothel must pay taxes.

Zhu Zhu Yijun drafted the edict without mentioning the Tax Inspection Room or the Tax Inspection Bureau. The organizational structure won't be built overnight. Luo Luo Bingliang will begin in the Southern Circuit; only after achieving results will the Northern Office of Surveillance's Tax Inspection Room and the independent Tax Inspection Bureau outside the Six Ministries be established.

Zhu Zhu Yijun designed tax receipts and tax payment certificates. The receipts were given to powerful households, who filled in their land area and tax amount. If verified by imperial inspectors, the Ministry of Revenue's Bureau of Accounts and the Tiqi Battalion Commander Luo Luo Bingliang would jointly seal the documents, each holding half.

The tax payment certificate bore a joint seal, then was torn apart—a method impossible to replicate.

Nothing in the world happens overnight. Zhu Zhu Yijun had merely shared his idea with Zhang Zhang Juzheng—he hadn't unleashed his full force yet.

When this imperial edict was issued, its impact was negligible.

Court ministers, officials in the capital, provincial officials—all failed to grasp its terrifying power. Many even mocked it: the emperor was too young, inexperienced; his decree was a joke, like a child's play.

Just issue a tax receipt and expect the powerful to pay voluntarily?

Ge Ge Shouli read the official gazette, glanced at the edict, and smiled: "The emperor is still too young—too fanciful. Issuing tax receipts with sealed certificates—will that really collect taxes? If the Ming's powerful households were all loyal subjects, how could we now face such fiscal deficits?"

Hai Rui frowned deeply. He sensed a conspiracy, but couldn't yet pinpoint what it was. He only felt something was wrong—but couldn't say exactly what.

Hai Rui said sternly: "So keep Luo, the Battalion Commander, watching. If anyone refuses to pay, confiscate their property. Confiscate a few households, and the rest will pay. Grand Secretary Ge, do you truly believe the emperor is acting without purpose? We've all read the emperor's lecture records—how he scolds court officials, we've all witnessed it. Do you really think he'd waste his time on useless efforts?"

"There's something wrong here."

Master Zhang's methods are still too gentle. Since you're going to be cursed anyway, why not double it, then super-double it? The Armed Tax Inspection Bureau is now established! Requesting monthly votes, woof!!!!!!

(End of Chapter)